Steve Wildsmith

It’s been a minute since we checked in on Marshal Hill, featuring April, Jason and Mandy Kelly, who grew up in Blount County listening to their father play country songs. Although they at first opted for mainstream career paths — April on a basketball and vocal scholarship to the Savannah College of Art and Design, Mandy as a nurse and stay-at-home mom with three daughters with husband Eric Hembree and Jason as a father who recently decided to finish a degree in drafting — they never strayed from music. (Mandy and her family still live in Maryville; Jason calls Knoxville home; and April still lives in Savannah, Ga. All, however, are natives of Blount County.)

During holidays and family gatherings, they would pull out their guitars and play. In October 2008, however, their music made its way to a broader audience, thanks to the Internet — a Nashville executive discovered them on April’s YouTube channel, and the three were invited to perform at Nashville’s Listening Room Cafe. That night, Marshal Hill was born, and they’ve been busy ever since, opening for Julia Nunes last year and The Square Room and playing out when they can.

Mandy dropped me a line the other night to tell me that she and her sister will be singing on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway as contestants of the new reality show “Fast Track To Fame.” The episode featuring them will air two nights later, at 8 p.m. March 8 on Fox’s Speed Channel. According to the program’s website, the show “features real people from across NASCAR Nation including, singers, dancers, musicians, comedians and variety acts of all types! The series premieres Monday, March 1 … and each show is an hour-long with as many as six repeat airings during the following week. Each installment is taped at a stop along the NASCAR schedule from late February through May, and 11 shows are scheduled.”

Check out “Fast Track to Fame” online and Marshal Hill online as well. Here are the sisters:

About a month ago, we announced the initial phase of the lineup for “The Shed” Concert Series at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson, 1820 W. Lamar Alexander Parkway in Maryville. Organizers continue to roll out the names and fill in the blank dates, and tickets are already on sale for some shows. You can purchase tickets online, or call 977-1669 for more information. And if you like everything you see, pony up $175 — that’s for a pass that gets you into all of the shows this season. Here are the dates so far (shows begin at 8 p.m.):

April 3: Unknown Hinson ($15)

April 10: Voodoo Lounge (Rolling Stones tribute, $10)

April 17: Scott Miller and the Commonwealth ($15)

April 24: Mustang Sally ($15)

May 1: Winds of Thor (Led Zeppelin tribute)

May 8: Shannon McNally

May 15: Ray Wylie Hubbard

May 22: Bill “The Sauce Boss” Wharton

May 28: Devon Allman’s Honeytribe

May 29: Jason and the Scorchers

May 30: Stacie Collins

June 5: Hayes Carll

June 11: Goose Creek Symphony

June 12: Todd Snider

June 19: Use Your Illusion (Guns N’ Roses tribute)

June 26: Hackensaw Boys

July 3: Monsters of Classic Rock

July 10: Tres Hombres

July 17: James McMurtry

July 24: Ozzmosis

July 31: Trent Summar

Aug. 21: Blackberry Smoke

Aug. 28: Big Gun (AC/DC tribute)

Sept. 3: Leon Russell

Sept. 4: Kentucky Headhunters

Sept. 11: Husky Burnette

Sept. 18: Cross Canadian Ragweed

Sept. 25: Mic Harrison and The High Score

Mark your calendar for “Wolfe Jam 2010,” set for next Thursday, March 11. It’s a little event held every year to honor the memory of local singer, bassist, teacher, and songwriter Rick Wolfe, who passed away after a battle with cancer in 2007. From his obituary: “Rick was a 20 year employee of Pick’n’Grin, where he was manager, teacher, technician, salesman, engineer, musician, family member, and confidant to all. He also was a long time member of the Macdaddies, Crawdaddy, Delta Flyers and Body Heat, and was the on-call bass player of choice for every band in Knoxville that needed a fill-in. He was rock solid in his musicianship and friendship. Rick’s knowledge and experiences far exceeded his 53 years. With his recordings, teachings, and love of music and musicians, he has left behind a legacy in Knoxville’s music scene that has reached well beyond the city’s boundaries.” On March 11, local bands Relentless Blues, Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere, Crawdaddy, Chico and the Men, Brendon James Wright, Adoration, Grandma’s Devices and spoken-word artist Jack Rentfro will gather at Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon, 100 N. Central St. in Knoxville’s Old City, for a celebration. It starts at 7 p.m. No word on how much tickets are yet, but they’ll be sold at the door; $7-$10, I would think. Regardless, all proceeds will benefit the Joy of Music School. And if you own and play an instrument, you’re invited to bring it and jam.

UPDATE, March 3: Actually, there won’t be a cover charge for this event, according to Patrick Sullivan’s GM Sean Blair. It’s free, but donations will be gratefully accepted for the Joy of Music School.

Local cover band The Retroholics, it seems, have called it quits. Or rather, gone through a lineup change and decided to extend that to a name change. From the band’s Myspace site:

February 23, 2010

OPEN LETTER TO FANS OF THE RETROHOLICS

As promised, The Retroholics update. RECAP: In early February, Larry Ottinger, Lead Singer for the Retroholics parted ways with the band. Since then, we have kept our commitments to our fans and club managers by having Jeza (former Retro gal singer) from Dream on Alice and Michael Essex from Plan 9 assist us during this time. We are most appreciative how many of you have continued to come out and show your support, but…no matter how well these shows have gone, this line up is not The Retroholics you are accustomed to and we understand that. Remaining members of the Retroholics have decided it is the time to disband and move on. Congratulations go out to Scott Connatser, Drummer — Scott has landed an awesome new gig with Hillbilly Jedi so be sure to check out their MySpace schedule @ www.myspace.com/hillbillyjedi and add yourself as a friend. Members Chris Armstrong, Lead Guitar and Vocals, Phil Watts, Keyboard and Vocals will team up with Jeza in her exciting band project DREAM ON ALICE. They have their first show at Wild Wing Café on March 5. If you loved The Retroholics we promise you’re going to really love DREAM ON ALICE!! They will play all your favorite tunes from the 80’s and will include some of the best of 60’s, 70’, 90’s to present time music! There will be more dance sets and songs you love but never hear played out! As you well know, Jeza is an incredible high energy performer with a great set of pipes, Chris will cut loose to showcase his crowd pleasing guitar playing and Phil will be showcased as well. DREAM ON ALICE is excited to have the talents of Chris Armstrong and Phil Watts joining forces with Jeza and her other bandmates — Brian Lee – Guitar/Vocals, Greg Johnson – Drums, and Jay Harris – Bass. Please visit DREAM ON ALICE @ www.myspace.com/dreamonalice and add them as a friend. You’ve been wonderful fans to The Retroholics over the years! We hope you’ll continue to support Chris, Phil and Jeza with DREAM ON ALICE and Scott in his new venture with Hillbilly Jedi. Your support has meant the world to us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts… FAREWELL Retroheads!!

Interestingly, we interviewed Ottinger last May. We hope it wasn’t something he said to us.

Check out Dream On Alice on Myspace.

It’s been a minute since we caught up with Blount County band Hollowtree — back in 2008, to be exact. Front man Mike McQueen dropped me a line the other day and filled me in with what’s going on:

Just wanted to let you know that we’re playing every Wednesday at Brackins (Blues Bar, 112 E. Broadway Ave. in downtown Maryville) and we will be at the Waterfront (Bar and Grill, 404 Greenbelt Drive in Maryville) on Friday, March 5. Also I’m still keeping the Monday Night Acoustic Jam going. My friends from Murfreesboro will be playing at Brackins on Saturday, March 27. They are called The Incredible Heat Machine. We will be opening for them. And our lineup changed a little.

Mike McQueen — guitar, vocals

Javan Schiferl — bass

Adam Knable — guitar

Nick Spagnuolo — drums

Check out Hollowtree online.

Still hedging about whether you’ll enjoy the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival? (C’mon, those of you rolling around laughing hysterically; I’m sure there are some folks still on the fence about it.)

Well, you still have time to get your tickets at the festival’s website, but if you’re nervous about shelling out that kind of cash, here’s a way to hear some past performances — for free.

Organized by the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, HeadCount and the NRDC Action Fund, “The Best of Bonnaroo” marks the first time free music has been used to prompt Americans to contact their elected officials — and it’s to promote climate change. It’s a compilation of 17 different live performances from the festival, is available for free at www.Musicforaction.org. Before downloading the music, visitors are asked to email their Senators, the President or their local newspapers about climate change. The music is free no matter what, but the artists hope all their fans join them in taking action on this issue.

According to publicity for the project, The compilation includes live tracks from Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, O.A.R. and Ani DiFranco, among others. In most cases these recordings have never before been released to the public, and were hand-picked by the musicians themselves. Other featured artists include: The Decemberists, Guster, Gov’t Mule, Raphael Saadiq, Bob Weir & RatDog, Phil Lesh & Friends, moe. and The Disco Biscuits, whose bass player Marc Brownstein is the co-chair of HeadCount. All of the featured tracks are original songs, with the exception of My Morning Jacket’s performance of The Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’”.

Check out the contributors and the songs they’ve donated:

• Wilco, “Bull Black Nova“
• Pearl Jam, “Animal“
• Jack Johnson, “Inaudible Melodies“
• Dave Mathews Band, “Rapunzel“
• Death Cab for Cutie, “Cath…“
• Ani DiFranco, “Fuel“
• Phish, “Kill Devil Falls“
• Gov’t Mule, “Banks of the Deep End”
• O.A.R., “Delicate Few“
• moe., “Not Coming Down“
• Raphael Saadiq, “100 Yard Dash“
• Bob Weir & RatDog, “Throwing Stones“
• The Disco Biscuits, “And The Ladies Were the Rest of the Night“
• The Decemberists, “The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid“
• My Morning Jacket, “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’“
• Guster, “Happier“
• Phil Lesh and Friends, “Box of Rain”

Back in November 2008, when The Avett Brothers were coming through East Tennessee for a two-night stand at The Bijou Theatre, we interviewed Seth and had a great conversation about how grounded in family love that the brothers are. We talked about an album by their father, Jim Avett, that the brothers played on — “Jim Avett and Family” — and later that month, their dad joined them on the Bijou stage for a couple of songs.

Now, Jim has a new CD out — “Tribes” — and a couple of Knoxville dates scheduled; March 23 at the WDVX-FM “Blue Plate Special,” which takes place at 301 S. Gay St. in downtown Knoxville, and on Wednesday, April 28 at Preservation Pub, 28 Market Square in downtown Knoxville. The latter show will feature the all-girl trio Amelia’s Mechanics, whose debut album “North-South” was produced by Mr. Jim and released last month.

Read more about Jim Avett, in his son Seth’s words, here.

The Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame dinner and awards ceremony took place last night (Feb. 23) in Nashville, and WIVK-FM Operations Manager Mike Hammond was one of the inductees.

The surprise of the night, however, was that country superstar Taylor Swift surprised the audience by showing up to do the honors.

From a report over at The Boot.com:

Looking stunning in a short black cocktail dress, Taylor took the stage to welcome Mike Hammond from WIVK in Knoxville, Tenn., to the DJ and Radio Hall of Fame. Commenting that she had been to Kinkos earlier in the day, Taylor surprised Mike with a nearly life size poster of a photo she had taken with him during her first visit to WIVK.

Taylor mentioned that she had recently talked to Kenny Chesney about Mike and he too had fond memories. “Kenny told me that his favorite thing about Mike Hammond is that he’s ‘made extraordinary things happen to an ordinary person from East Tennessee’ and he wanted me to tell Mike that tonight.”

Jackie Hicks of country nightclub Cotton Eyed Joe in West Knoxville was in the audience with several co-workers for the honors, and she told me today that it was an amazing experience. She said that Swift went on to say that after her on-air performance, Hammond turned to fellow WIVK-er (and Blount County resident), deejay Gunner, and said, “We’ve just witnessed a superstar.” As a present, Swift enlarged a photo of her and Mike in front of the Citadel Communications building that houses the station, off Kingston Pike in Bearden, blown up to poster-size.

Got an e-mail from Press Here Publicity updating us media folk on the latest with Sam Quinn, half of the folk duo the everybodyfields that relocated from Johnson City to Knoxville a couple of years ago.

We caught up with his former partner, Jill Andrews, back in November; we last did a story on the band itself in 2007, after “Nothing Is OK” was released. (Incidentally, there’s a never-released everybodyfields record that Sam and Jill recorded at Rock Snob Studios last year, before they announced their split. Whether it ever sees the light of day remains to be seen.)

Sam, it seems, is preparing for the release of his own solo album. For the rest of the news, I’ll turn it over to Press Here.

A much wiser man than myself once said, “It’s time to move on.   It’s time to get goin’. What lies ahead I have no way of knowin’.”  Such is the case here.  This compilation of song, steeped in hopelessness, fortified with anguish and iced with 10 years of immediate responsibility that fell into one’s lap seemingly overnight, is a set of talks to myself that have been a long time coming.   – Sam Quinn, 2010

In an effort to keep the good times rolling in a gleefully depressing way, Sam Quinn’s latest musical incarnation finds the everybodyfields’ co-founder looking deep into his heart to deliver a collection of soul-baring songs that are part catharsis, part healing, and all beautifully written and sung. Aided by his band The Japan Ten, Quinn is stepping out in front with some new tunes, fresh faces and maybe even a new pair of brown pants. Quinn’s debut album, The Fake That Sunk 1,000 Ships, will be available on May 11 on esteemed NC indie label Ramseur Records.

Following the break-up of the everybodyfields, Quinn found himself off the touring circuit; it was time to rethink his life.  “After years carrying a bass amp and wearing goodwill neckties and explaining what my band sounded like to drunk people, I found some time to spend at home,” he says.  He also grew his beard to righteous proportions and quit worrying about if his suits were pressed as he confronted a painful break-up and rediscovered his way through writing the songs that became The Fake That Sunk 1,000 Ships.

“I did sort of use the pop music to work my life out. This album is so down it’s ridiculous,” he admits. “If you’re having a good time, you’re probably not doing something right. A happy song can lift you up for three-and-a-half minutes but sad song can make you feel bad a lot longer. It’s real stuff I was going through, a real bad year in my life so I just wanted to hash it out and get over it.  It’s real – it’s not about hopping trains or coal mining or making liquor.”

Recorded in an abandoned barn and old milking stable in South Knoxville, TN, the recordings have a warm, organic sound of like-minded folks making music together without a lot of distractions. The songs are reflective, the harmonies are aching and heartfelt, with keening pedal steel lines, piano parts reminiscent of The Band, violin lines and songs that gently build into group sing-alongs. The songs fit like an album, with a mood that settles in and makes itself at home.

Quinn has one of those imperfect voices that breaks in all the right places and sticks with you like a memory.  The songs alternately address pain and hope and often feel like confessions. On the track “Gun,” for instance, he sings, “I’m your gun and I’m loaded baby/ I could kill you tonight/ I never thought I would hurt you like I hurt you/ I can’t get you out of my sight … I kill myself a little every night.”

And though The Fake That Sunk 1,000 Ships is a stunning debut, it’s no party album – it’s a late-night, driving and reflecting on the past kind of record.

Explains Quinn: “Pop songs are chemically engineered to make you feel great.  These ones take a slightly different approach.”

Sam on Myspace

Sam on the everybodyfields

The Fake That Sunk 1,000 Ships Track Listing:

Hello
Fanboy
So Strong
Suite Motown
Strange
Gun
Mardis Gras
Help Me
Late The Other Night
River